ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: Some senior members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q admitted in the Senate on Thursday that the party and its allies had been defeated in the Feb 18 polls because of President Musharraf going back on his pledge to doff his army uniform in 2004.

Taking part in a debate on the overall political situation in the country, Senator S.M. Zafar said the PML-Q had suffered mainly because of the president not fulfilling his promise.

He said that the army should now take a back seat; it should not indulge in politics again. “Enough is enough; please leave the governance to the civilians.”

He said people had not given a clear mandate to any single party. However, parties which had emerged victorious in the elections would have to work in unison and avoid confrontation, he added.

He said the slain PPP chairperson, Benazir Bhutto, in her book had described reconciliation as a way out of the national crisis because confrontation could not resolve the issues currently being faced by the country.

Senator Zafar said he had opposed President Musharraf’s decision of not quitting the army post and also of imposing the state of emergency.

He said the former ruling parties were ready to sit in the opposition, but this opposition would be different from that of the past.

Winding up the debate, caretaker Information Minister Nisar A. Memon praised the caretaker cabinet for what he called conducting ‘successful and peaceful’ elections. He defended the policies of President Musharraf and the outgoing PML-Q government.

He enumerated economic achievements by the last government: surge in the Karachi Stock Exchange index and direct foreign investment, high GDP growth rate and a number of development projects.

Prof Ibrahim Khan of the MMA said the PPP and PML-N faced serious challenges of restoring deposed judges.Reading out a letter of the son of deposed chief justice, he said that children of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry were not being allowed to carry on their education and the family had been deprived of proper medical facility.

Prof Sajid Mir of the MMA said that election results showed the people of Pakistan had rejected the US hegemony. He urged the winning parties to work for strengthening parliament and the judiciary.

Senator Dr Ismail Buledi from Balochistan said: “We take dictates from the United States and other countries for the formation of government, although it is our sovereign right.”

Dr Kausar Firdaus of the MMA accused the PML-Q of spending Rs175 million on its election campaign on TV channels.

She said that former ruling party’s big guns, including Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, had been defeated because of their support for President Musharraf.

She said that the PPP, PML-N and ANP had won the elections because of their pledge to restore the judiciary.

Dr Abdul Malik, who chaired the session, made interesting remarks at the end of every speech and on one occasion said: “To expect any good from the establishment will be another mistake on our part.”

Raza Mohammad Raza of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party said that the PPP, PML-N and other parties had won the elections because of their allegiance to the APDM agenda. He also said that President Musharraf had no option now but to step down.

Rahmatullah Kakar, also of the MMA, suggested that the policy of blindly supporting the so-called war on terror should be changed by the new democratic government; Senate’s approval of budget should be made mandatory; and the privatisation of national assets should be stopped.

Earlier, three ordinances -- The Women in Distress and Detention Fund (Amendment) Ordinance 2008, The Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Ordinance 2008 and The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Ordinance 2008 were presented in the house.

Later, the house was prorogued.